Previously, I talked about how minimal shoes or barefoot running can improve technique and reduce injuries. In the last post, another question came up: even with minimal footwear, does easy running turn into chronic cardio (and its associated problems)?
In this interview, Christopher McDougall addresses this topic:
Q: "A lot of people out there argue against aerobic exercise in favor of short sprints and strength training. Why is it such a heated debate?"
A: "People become attached to whatever they believe in. It's almost inarguable that distance running, as a starting point, is good. If you want to add in resistance training—sure! And as far as the way we do endurance sports, I agree [with the critics]. The way we measure how we run is to hit the stopwatch and go hard for two hours. When modern people try to use that technique in a persistence hunt, they collapse. But look at ultra runners. They walk up hills. When you're on a trail, the footing is unsure, you have to leap over trees. The terrain forces you to, on occasion, slow down. I suspect it's much more in line with how our bodies were designed to operate, never going into oxygen depletion or experiencing low sugar. The Tarahumara go very long on very little fuel. They're burning fats, not sugar. And they work as a team. There's this huge schism between running as something natural and this solitary thing you do yourself, as work."
This is why I think minimal footwear/barefoot is only half of the running equation. The other half is running in a pattern similar to that of the hunter-gatherers. As McDougall pointed out, trail running forces a runner to run in a different way than running on flat pavement. Trail running could lead to a running pattern that contains:
Short steps to avoid falling or injury
Walk breaks when the slope is too severe
Stopping to jump or climb over objects
This pattern is much different than running at one speed on flat pavement. I still think there is room for Zen-like paces in trail running. There wouldn't be much sense in going all-out on a trail for the above reasons. It's probably more efficient to motor along at a moderate pace that would keep the heart rate low.
Previously, I talked about how minimal shoes or barefoot running can improve technique and reduce injuries. In the last post, another question came up: even with minimal footwear, does easy running turn into chronic cardio (and its associated problems)?
In this interview, Christopher McDougall addresses this topic:
Q: "A lot of people out there argue against aerobic exercise in favor of short sprints and strength training. Why is it such a heated debate?"
A: "People become attached to whatever they believe in. It's almost inarguable that distance running, as a starting point, is good. If you want to add in resistance training—sure! And as far as the way we do endurance sports, I agree [with the critics]. The way we measure how we run is to hit the stopwatch and go hard for two hours. When modern people try to use that technique in a persistence hunt, they collapse. But look at ultra runners. They walk up hills. When you're on a trail, the footing is unsure, you have to leap over trees. The terrain forces you to, on occasion, slow down. I suspect it's much more in line with how our bodies were designed to operate, never going into oxygen depletion or experiencing low sugar. The Tarahumara go very long on very little fuel. They're burning fats, not sugar. And they work as a team. There's this huge schism between running as something natural and this solitary thing you do yourself, as work."
This is why I think minimal footwear/barefoot is only half of the running equation. The other half is running in a pattern similar to that of the hunter-gatherers. As McDougall pointed out, trail running forces a runner to run in a different way than running on flat pavement. Trail running could lead to a running pattern that contains:
This pattern is much different than running at one speed on flat pavement. I still think there is room for Zen-like paces in trail running. There wouldn't be much sense in going all-out on a trail for the above reasons. It's probably more efficient to motor along at a moderate pace that would keep the heart rate low.